Campus Antisemitism
“Clearly, Berkeley is not united against hate,” said student Nathan Bentolila, a senior. “I honestly have very little to say, the Jewish community is beyond disappointed.”
Illini Hillel and the Jewish United Fund in Chicago said jointly, “Jewish students and allies worked hard to defeat the bill, with more than 30 students speaking out. Unfortunately, the climate was deeply hostile not only to Israel, but also to Jewish communal concerns.”
Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind was being escorted out of the room, some of the other attendees chanted “Rashida!”
In a statement posted on Facebook, the “Harvard Jewish Coalition for Peace” called itself “a new organization founded in the idea that Jewish liberation is inextricably bound up with the liberation of all people.”
Illini Students Supporting Israel board member Aaron Merlin, a junior, told JNS that the vote was wrong and not representative of the overall university community.
White supremacists targeted a total of 433 campuses in 43 states and the District of Columbia in 2019.
“The resolution proposed by Students for Justice in Palestine is a clear attempt to emotionally blackmail student senators and create a hostile environment for Jewish students on our campus,” said University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Hillel executive director Erez Cohen.
Chancellor Carol Christ of the University of California, Berkeley, said the chaos in the meeting reflected the “tension between free speech and our commitment to creating a campus environment where everyone must feel safe, respected and welcome.”
“Jewish students were repeatedly harassed, heckled and threatened with physical threats of violence. … Jewish students should never feel threatened and should NEVER fear for their safety while on campus,” posted campus group Tikvah: Students for Israel, on Facebook.
“Conflict Over Gaza: People, Politics and Possibilities” reportedly used $5,000 of taxpayer funds from the U.S. Education Department.
“This display of hate and ignorance is blatantly anti-Semitic, and has deeply affected our Jewish community,” stated the student association.
It will feature concerts, workshops and more, including “JAM (Jewish American Music) Talks,” where artists will weigh their musical influences.
